Health care disparities affect numerous minorities in the United States, and one of them is people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Such individuals face a variety of challenges in their lives, including problems with access to medical services.
People with intellectual disabilities often lack the capacity to act consciously in a complex environment. As a result, they become dependent on other people who must assist them in getting all essential medical procedures. In addition to health care disparities, such as poor access to care, including preventive one, and dependency, people with disabilities also face higher morbidity and lack of insurance (Robinson et al., 2012). Although people with developmental disabilities are eligible for Medicaid insurance, health care providers often limit the number of such patients.
In addition to biological factors contributing to health care disparities in people with disabilities, there are also non-biological ones. For instance, people with disabilities often experience a lack of financial resources because they are unable to work. As a result, they lack the ability to afford the services of healthcare specialists and have to rely on the help of relatives and friends. Medical social workers can address this factor by assisting people with disabilities in receiving social benefits and other types of public support. Another factor is public health policy, which is evident in the example with the Medicaid insurance mentioned above.
Although there are government initiatives, such as insurance coverage for people with disabilities, such policies are poorly enforced. Medical social workers can address the factor by helping the patient cope with the complex health system since it is one of their primary work functions (Ruth et al., 2019). Finally, social workers also can address the factor of poorly-trained home caregivers who often neglect the health issues of the population in question. Social workers can provide the knowledge and skills necessary to detect health problems in patients with disabilities early.
References
Robinson, L. M., Dauenhauer, J., Bishop, K. M., & Baxter, J. (2012). Growing health disparities for persons who are aging with intellectual and developmental disabilities: The social work linchpin. Journal of Gerontological Social Work, 55(2), 175–190. Web.
Ruth, B., Wachman, M., & Marshall, J. (2019). Public health social work. In S. Gehlert & T. Browne (Eds.), Handbook of health social work (3d ed.) (pp. 93–118). John Wiley & Sons.